The Arrival of the Horse - Plateau Indians in Olden Times

For Kids

In the early
1700s, Indians from the south arrived on the Plateau. They
traded horses for furs. That was the first time the people of
the Plateau had ever seen a horse.They loved a challenge and they loved games of skill.
They quickly became magnificent riders and breeders.

Trade: The arrival of horses on the
Plateau made travel and trade much easier. The people were not limited to travel
on foot or travel by canoes on rivers or
streams to get around.That caused a
shift in culture.

Expansion: Up until the arrival of the horse,
vast areas of the Plateau were largely uninhabited.Various tribes claimed vast amounts of land as “theirs”. But these
areas were mostly unexplored. A tribe might claim all land to the ridge of the
next mountain. But they had never actually reached the ridge of the next
mountain since they were limited to travel on foot or by canoe. With the arrival
of the horse, these areas could be explored. Tribes started to claim land that
had historically "belonged" to other tribes. Not that it mattered at first. In
the past, who claimed what was mostly immaterial because the people of the
Plateau had always shared. But the concept of sharing was changing as well.

Sharing: For thousands of years, the
clever, creative, generous people
of the Plateau had worked in cooperation with each other. Some families owned
fish stations,
but the owners had always shared the catch. When a family or a tribe left a pit
house to move somewhere else, they left food and blankets stored
safely behind, so that the people who used the pit house next would have food to
eat and a blanket to use to stay warm, while they got settled.But times were changing, and that change started with the arrival of the
horse. The people of the Plateau needed goods to trade for horses because each
brave wanted a horse of his own. No brave wanted another tribe borrowing or
using their horse. After thousands of years of sharing as a way of life, the
people of the Plateau were no longer willing to share. That was a huge shift in
culture.

Warfare: Once horses arrived in the Plateau
region, warfare changed dramatically. Warriors could
travel more territory. Herds of horses belonging to opposing tribes on the
Plateau were common
targets of raids, and the horses were usually not returned when peace was
achieved. That was new.

Hunting: Hunters, on horseback, began
hunting beyond the Plateau. They hunted buffalo on the plains. That caused all
kinds of trouble. The Plains
Indians considered this an act of war.

For thousands of years, life
on the Plateau had continued in much the same manner. With the arrival of the
horse, life on the Plateau changed forever.